Domestic Violence- Why You Should Call When Someone Needs Help

You should not hesitate to call authorities if you witness a domestic disturbance | Source

Should You Get Involved During A Domestic Dispute?

Domestic violence is a very devastating experience to go through. While it is extremely devastating for the victims involved, it is also hurtful to those who know about the domestic dispute and are not quite sure how they should react or if they should get involved. I found myself in this situation recently. In my relatively peaceful neighborhood, there lives a family that has extremely loud domestic disputes. In fact, they often fought on a regular basis to the point that the neighborhood would often chalk it up to them having "another one of their lover quarrels." However indifferent the neighborhood was, I had a hard time being indifferent toward the situation because these individuals had young children and under no circumstances should children hear yelling and screaming on an extreme level. If I can hear it outside of their house, I can imagine what it sound like on the inside and how frightening that might have been to them.

These neighbors did not just argued. In very heated arguments they threw items out on the walk way, slammed and banged on doors in the wee hours of the night and the early mornings with the sunrise. When things escalate to that point, it's only a matter of time before the issue turns into physical assault, if it had not already.

One particular morning, their arguing had awaken me from sleep. While I teetered between letting it die down or calling the police, I heard the woman scream at the top of her lungs for someone to help her, more than once. I looked out the window, and this time, I've witness the physical assault. I was not going to take the "indifferent" route. This time, I called the police. Fortunately the police came and took care of the situation.

I still don't know if she pressed charges against her partner. Probably not. So you may ask, "what's the sense in calling the police when they're going to get right back together again?" That's probably the same attitude the folks in the neighborhood had and the reason they didn't do anything about any of the domestic disputes. The reason I called is because if anything extremely dangerous or fatal had happened to the person that was physically assaulted, I could not live with myself knowing I had an opportunity to help out and I didn't. Often times we would hear news reports of families that are physically assaulted or murdered and when neighbors are interviewed, they'd say they had no idea that they were having problems. "They seem pretty quiet and happy to me." They would often said. But what about when you know something is happening? How should you respond to domestic disputes?

It's understandable that no one wants to get caught up in anyone else problems or dramas in life. I certainly don't. But if there is a moment where we can help, we should. No one is saying we have to be superheroes, and I'm certainly not suggesting that we physically involve ourselves in the altercations. Sometimes that can escalate the situation much worse. But we can do our part in helping by calling the appropriate authorities. The great thing about calling for emergency help in that nature is that you remain anonymous. You're simply putting out the call for help, and the authorities who were trained to handle domestic disputes handle these responses in the appropriate manner.

Don't left fear of being found out, or indifference to a situation stop you from reaching out for help when someone needs it. Even if the individuals do stay together, don't feel like your reaching out to the appropriate authorities would be or have been in vain. In time, you never know whose life you may save. And you can also feel good knowing you didn't just walk away, but that you actually did take the time and try to help.

A news report on how we can help victims of domestic violence by reporting incidents:

Enjoyed this article? Consider watching the thought provoking ABC News Primetime special on what you would do if you witness domestic abuse: